On Sept. 6, InsideCounsel's First Annual Transformative Leadership Awards West (TLA West) in San Francisco honored general counsel and law firm partners who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the empowerment of women in corporate law.

In 2007, Karen Cottle traveled to New York for the inaugural awards of the DirectWomen Institute, which promotes women on corporate boards. Cottle, the general counsel of Adobe Systems Inc., was inspired by the event, but didn’t know of any similar organizations closer to her West Coast home.